NW Kid Chaser

A little more than 14 years ago, my husband and I spent a long weekend in Seattle. It was fabulously fun. This August we returned, we our two favorite companions.

Our boys loved the big city as much as we do. Going by train makes it a super easy, close-to-home, family adventure that can't be beat. Here's a few of our favorite activities:

Love that train ride...

We played cards, read books, ate in the dining car, and didn't worry a bit about traffic. Check the Amtrak website regularly for discounts/deals.

Fremont District Fun...

The walking tour with superheroes, community art, and heart. Worth every penny to get an insider-view of this uniquely Seattle neighborhood. Great eats nearby too!

Space Needle...

Buy tickets online to avoid the long lines and dedicate at least an hour up at the top, as there are several interactive displays as well as a great view.Employees will take your picture and email it to you for free, so even Mom gets in the skyline shot!

﻿﻿International Fountain...﻿﻿

The challenge of this amazing fountain is to touch the center globe without getting wet. I double dog dare you to try it. I also advise that you bring a towel. It makes for a perfect way to unwind after a long day and was a favorite location for our boys.

Glass Museum...

Amazing sculpture displays and garden: Ask about their summer special that gives you access both day and night. Tickets can be purchased with Space Needle tix at a discount.Be sure to watch the movie that shows the artist's process and vision.

Pacific Science Center...

This museum offers kid friendly fun in the middle of it all. Use your local children's museum membership to get in for free. DO NOT MISS the high-rail bike.

Pike Place Market...

The Free Walking Tour was fabulous and family friendly. Our guide was funny, informed, and hooked us up with food samples throughout the market. Hooray!

Monorail...

Soooo touristy; Soooo fun! There really is no need to use a car in Seattle. You can get everywhere you need to go with trains, the monorail, light rail, and buses. Use the Transit app for automatic updates.

The machinery has gone digital with computer chips detailing the beautiful designs.

Public tours for individuals and small groups are held weekdays at 9 am, 11 am, 1:30 pm, and 3 pm. Reservations are not required, however tour spaces are filled on a first come basis. Tours take about 20 minutes. Shorter tours are also available on weekends. Call for details: 541-276-6911.

Occasionally I see a "Think Global, Act Local" bumper sticker, and wonder: 'Does that mean I'm doing my part when I eat locally?' I hope so. Social consciousness tastes so good.

Because ourLEGO Robotics Team has chosen to research cheese for the project presentation in the 2011 FLL Food Factor challenge, I began searching the web for a local cheesemaker willing to explain their trade. To my good fortune, I hit the dairy-product jackpot when I found Ochoa's Queseria in Albany, Oregon.

Cheesemaker Extraordinaire Fransisco Ochoa explained how cheese is made; gave a tour of his great facility, and offered a delicious taste of the final product. The families who visited praised this "local gem" and vowed to return again.

A huge thank you to Fransisco for helping the youth, the stomachs, and the taste-buds of our local community!

And every time we pass this sign, my nine year old says, “Let’s take the Factory Tour, Mom!”

This week – I finally obliged.

Palm Harbor Homes has a factory and sales center just off the freeway in Millersburg and offers free tours daily at 10am. These tours are designed for potential buyers, but we received a warm welcome when I explained our mission: to learn more about a business near our community.

We first started in the tour center/demo room. This space allowed us to learn about the materials used in construction. As our family has been in the midst of a basement remodel this past year, my boys knew all the lingo: insulation, drywall, tile, grout, cabinetry. Moving on from there, we donned out protective eyewear and stepped onto the factory floor where the systematic construction process of each home was explained. Vacation cabins, single-wides, double-wides, even quad-homes and houseboats are all custom made right here in the Valley. Customers can choose the floor plan, exterior and interior paint color, and can even designate accent walls.

Following our guide, our group walked to a raised viewing room in the middle of the factory. From our second story perch, we saw workers simultaneously laying linoleum flooring, building and installing walls, roofing, finishing counter tops, and welding the metal frames used for shipping the homes. The tour guide told us the details of the various stages of construction and answered any questions (How many factory-floor employees? 135. How many women? About a dozen. Salaried or hourly? Hourly with bonuses for customer satisfaction and tenure. Health care included. Bankers hours.)

Once back to the main lot, my boys and I crossed the road and toured the model homes. Beautifully furnished, I found the small Avantii IIIto be acharming vacation cabin. My youngest son preferred the 2,500 sq. ft. Mt. Shasta model, although he did admit, “I’m afraid I’ll get lost in here”.

We left the Palm Harbor parking lot just 90 minutes after we first arrived. Speeding by the Beaver home as made our way up the highway, my sons cheered: “We’ve been in there!” ---- Yep. One more corner of our world explored. One more bit of local knowledge gained.

Most the tours I posted here this summer dealt with urban living, but I wanted to give my boys a taste of agricultural business as well. So... just before school started, I called around the Willamette Valley to find a dairy farm that would host us and hit gold with the OSU Dairy Research Center. Located just north of campus (4380 N.W. Harrison Blvd) in Corvallis, the dairy provided a tour for our family &friends.

Here are a few pictures of our visit, a cow named Nadine, and our knowledgeable guide.

It was a great experience and we hope to return during milking time (or feeding time for the calves) soon. If you want to visit the OSU dairy contact Director Ben Krahn at 541-737-3275.

One of the best parts of taking my kids on tours of Salem businesses is the education I myself receive. Salem has so many great people - doing so many great things. I’m honored when these folks take time from their busy days to welcome us.

Mr. Allan Campbell of Eagle Web Press graciously hosted a tour for my family and some friends during the month of July. I entered unsure of what we would see. I left a fan of Eagle Web Press and all they do.

Eagle Web Press is a commercial printing company that produces newspapers, magazines, coupon books, directories, newsletters, and much more. You want it – they print it!

Our tour showed us the entire process from beginning to end and Mr. Campbell explained it in kid-friendly terms. My boys were all ears. We saw the printing, the rolling, the cutting, the stapling and all the recycling!

I’ve always loved the outside of the historic Ladd & Bush Bank in downtown Salem. The ornate carvings above the main doors are beautiful and matched only by the detail of the metal gates at the same location.

Since the onset of drive-through windows and online banking, the art of carefully crafting such a stately building to house financial services may now be a thing of the past. Walking hurriedly past this building, even I sometimes fail to stop and appreciate this gem of downtown Salem. So… when looking to tour a bank with my kiddos (and friends) I decided that Ladd & Bush would be the perfect place to learn about Salem history as well as bank services.

Our tour gave us a peek at the original safe, cases of antique coins and measurements, and several old “calculators” formerly used in money counting. We were also able to visit the basement, the safe deposit boxes, and the large current day vault. Correction: the children were able to visit the vault. Adults had to wait in the lobby. My 5 year old thought this detail was absolutely delightful. He humbly tried to offer his sympathy by saying, “Sorry you had to miss the fun Mom. It’s just that you are so old.”

Overall, it was a great tour. Interesting for all ages (even us old-folks). Thank you to US Bank for hosting!

With the birth of my first child also came the full bloom of my mothering instincts. My husband refers to these God given mothering skills as my uncanny ability to enter a room and immediately identify 104 ways to die.

But then, just as I was feeling secure in the continued survival of my offspring, I read an article about house fires. Apparently young children often hide during a fire from the very people trying to save them. The odd visitor covered in yellow gear and the strange ‘Darth Vader’ sounds produced by the fire fighter’s oxygen mask frighten young children, who are already disoriented by the unknown smells and sounds. This revelation, of course, immediately caused my pulse to quicken, my eyes to glaze, and the room to sway as I clutched my chest. Aghhhh!And so began the Obery tradition of visiting the local firehouse on a yearly basis….

My boys always love these visits for the chance to climb aboard the fire truck and look behind the scenes of life as a civil servant. I love these visits because my sons have the opportunity to see a smiling firefighter suit up, use the regulator, and kindly shake their hand.I know this is not a guarantee of fire safety, but a Momma does what she can. Thank you to Salem Fire Department for helping me follow my instincts.

Besides reading to my babies daily, I think the most helpful thing I can do for their brainy-little-brains is to take them new places and talk about what we see. Educators call all that good stuff ‘background knowledge.’ This momma calls it ‘On the Go.'This summer, I have set up a variety of free tours for schoolmates and friends. A quick call to various, local businesses and services unveiled a number of locations willing to host our small group. I’ll be posting info about these trips here. Maybe the kiddos in your care might be interested in visiting too.

The folks at Yamasa were wonderfully kind to us. They showed us their facility, explained the process of soy sauce production, and shared with us a sampling of their delicious sauce. Turns out soybeans, wheat, sea salt and six months of patience are the key ingredients to this tasty product. The busy production line of the factory kept some of our wee guests plugging their noses and others covering their ears, but my two boys counted these as positives as we walked back to our car after the hour long tour.

At the urgent request of my five year-old, I rearranged dinner plans tonight so that we can try some of the local Yamasa soy sauce. Lucky us – the Yamasa website offers lots of recipes for just such an occasion.

A huge thank you to this local business for: investing in local workers, working to be an environmentally friendly facility, and sharing their wisdom with the youth of this community.